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| The Nissan NP200. Photo: Quicpic |
In the bakkie scrum of small transporters, big news is that the people at Nissan have doubled the time on their warranty for the NP200 bakkie, up from the original 3 years,100 000 km to 6 year, 150 000 km.
While warrants don’t add to profits, they do show a manufacturer’s confidence in its product. The NP200’s new warranty pit it against the larger Opel/Chev Corsa 1.8, which offers a 840 kg payload, a 5-year, 120 000 km warranty and a reasonable R132 400 price.
With 16 valves on the little 1.6 engine, Nissan’s NP200 can just about lug its 800 kg at our altitude, but their willing 1.5 diesel is better suited for this task. The only catch with the NP200 is that, like that of the Corsas, Bantams and Stradas, the suspension is tuned to be kind to your kidneys rather than carry a load.
Price wise, the NP200 costs more than the Chanas, Ford Bantam, Chevrolet Corsa and Daihatsu’s Gran Max. Among these rivals, I used to rate the Bantam the best buy, but unfortunately, so do SA’s tsotsis. Fiat’s fewer dealers make the Strada a well-kept secret. As for the Daihatsu and Chana, their tiny engines make them strictly last-mile-delivery vehicles.
Hence, next you need a cheap workhorse, test drive the NP200. The 8-valve base model starts at R109,400 and the diesel at R150,400, but I recommend the 16-valve base model at R136,000. While this is a few thousand dearer than the Bantam or Corsa, Nissan does now include a few more years of confidence.
Based on warranty, my scrum selection:
SA’s bakkie scrum Warranty Payload
8man: Nissan NP200 1.6 6 years, 150 000km 800 kg
Locks: Korean dropside 5 years, 150 000 km 1,300 kg
Flank: Chevrolet Corsa 1.8 5 years, 120 000km 840 kg
Flank: Ford Bantam 1.3 4 years, 120 000 km 650 kg
Hooker: Fiat Strada 1.4 3 years, 100 000 km 750 kg
L/prop: Chana Maxistar 1.3 1 years, 50 000 km 1,340 kg
T/prop: Daihatsu Gran Max 1.3 None 1,055 kg
